Sex.
Americans love sex.
Americans love thinking about sex, talking about sex, and most of all, having sex.
As much as Americans preoccupy themselves with sex, few actually know much about the most important part about sex: sexual health.
The rising number of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies on American college campuses especially illustrates this, but people disagree about how to solve the problem.
Lauren Williams, a manager at the Texas State University Bookstore and a mother of two young women, believes that parents should be the ones who primarily educate their children about sex.
“It is the parent’s responsibility, not [a] school’s,” Williams said. “I think we live in a time when parents don’t parent anymore. People should not rely on schools to educate their children about sex.”
Emma Cyrocki, a sophomore at Texas State University, described her sexual health education experience at school as limited, but had parents who informed her about sex at home.
“In high school, we had assemblies [about sex], but I skipped them because I was educated [by my parents] and it wasn’t mandatory to go,” said Cyrocki. “We are a very open family; I didn’t feel uncomfortable talking about sex with them. It was never really an issue. I remember we had sex education in health class, too, but I learned more from family and friends.”
Ashlee Dozier, the Health Education Coordinator at the Texas State University Student Health Center, agrees that parents should educate their children about sex, but because many don’t, emphasized the importance of sexual health education in schools.
“Research has shown that about 96% of high schools in Texas do not teach comprehensive (non-abstinence-only) sex education,” said Ashlee Dozier. “A more comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health education has shown to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.”
Dozier also feels it is insufficient to rely on friends and family for sexual education and said that students still need to get facts from a reliable source, such as the Texas State University Health Center, the San Marcos Family Planning Center, or sexual health websites such as goaskalice.com, smartersex.org, or plannedparenthood.org.
Still, although students have these resources, many do not use them, and since many college students did not receive comprehensive sex education from neither school nor parents, they have an incomplete grasp of sexual health upon entering college.
Joe Teneyuque, a junior at Texas State University, suggested that Texas State counter this by implementing more sexual education on campus.
“Maybe [sex education] could even be included in the curriculum for University Seminar or make a health class or two a requirement to graduate, like History and English,” said Teneyuque. “The student health center should also hold classes and seminars.”
Cyrocki agreed with Teneyuque and suggested more ideas for the university to inform its students about sex.
“To attract students, the university should offer an incentive, like free food and condoms or something, to go to meetings about [sexual health],” said Cyrocki. “I think giving some sex education classes or something at orientation would even be a good idea, too. I mean, that way, they’d be informed right from the beginning, you know?”
